Entire Pentagon defense tech unit to leave by May

The entire staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s decade-old technology development office, is leaving by the start of May, with nearly all individuals resigning, a current member of the office confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. 

The mass exodus, first reported by Politico, means the service will effectively shutter in less than a month.

Of the 14 members of the office, a dozen including Director Jennifer Hay have requested the Trump administration’s deferred resignation option and plan to leave by May 1. Two other staffers are also leaving in that time frame.

"Although DDS was excited to support DoD's efforts to improve efficiencies and champion software modernization initiatives, the Administration was not leveraging DDS and hiring freezes, rescinding remote work, and travel restrictions were making us non-mission capable,” the current office member told The Hill. “As a result, most of the team elected to resign.”

A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately comment on the resignations.

Created in 2015, the Defense Digital Service was meant to help the Pentagon quickly solve technology challenges. The small team of engineers and data experts who made up the office were meant to bring Silicon Valley-style solutions to the Defense Department, a mammoth federal agency that historically struggles with quick innovation.

Then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the time the DDS would “apply a more innovative and agile approach to solving DoD’s complex IT problems,” such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

Its projects included reforming digital services that provide military families access to benefits, identifying and better securing Defense Department cyber vulnerabilities, and developing drone-detection technologies. 

But under pressure from the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, those in the office decided to leave before they were effectively forced out, Politico reported.

The group thought they might be used to help DOGE automate the Pentagon’s operations via AI, but Musk’s team has declined to do so, according to the outlet.

And once the office closes, key efforts to streamline the Pentagon’s tech talent pipeline and counter adversarial drones will be shuttered, one outgoing employee told Politico.

Still, DDS efforts are expected to continue elsewhere. The member who spoke with The Hill said the office has “found permanent homes for most of our ongoing projects.”